Iraqi City and Egyptian Archeological Site Make World Monuments Watch List

Jordan’s popular archeological tourist destination of Petra, the town of Amedy in Iraqi Kurdistan and an Albanian hilltop prison are among the sites included in the World Monuments Fund 2016 watch list, announced on Thursday morning.

The World Monuments Watch, announced every two years and now in its 20th year, highlights sites and monuments around the world at risk from development, conflict or climate change and natural catastrophe. A total of 50 sites are included in the 2016 watch list, including two in the United States, 15 in Europe and seven in North Africa and the Middle East.

The destruction of a number of ancient religious and cultural sites by the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group has made international news this year. While no Syrian sites are included on the 2016 Watch, the 50th entry is listed as Unnamed Monument “in recognition of the deliberate and calculated damage to thousands of cultural heritage sites in many areas of political and social instability,” according to the World Monuments Fund. There were also too many at-risk sites to be individually included on the list, the group said.